1 Corinthians - Week 28

0:00 Thank you, Stevie. I almost joined the band there by accident at the end, but came up a little bit early. Thank you to Stevie and the band. Thank you as well to Andrew and Flo. It's just so great to hear that news. And in fact, while between that announcement and me getting up here, I've had a text message to say there has been one other person this week as well, off the back of the baptism last week, who has also given their life to Christ this week. So God is definitely at work amongst us. And I, for one, am personally delighted about the person that Andrew was talking about because that's somebody that I've been praying about for a long time.

0:41 So that's brilliant. Don't mind getting emotional. I did that last week as well. I'm obviously getting old. Right, we are in 1 Corinthians and I'm sort of wondering, is it quiet today because it's bank holiday or is it quiet today because people have read ahead and realize that I'm talking about money. Not sure which one you're now kicking yourself because you didn't read ahead. That's the problem. So let's, we're just looking at four verses this morning.

1:08 So let's look at these four verses and then we'll get into it. It says this, now about the collection for the Lord's people. Do what I told the Galatian churches to do. On the first day of the week, each one of you should set aside a sum of money in keeping with your income, saving it up so that When I come, no collections will have to be made. Then when I arrive, I will give letters of introduction to the men you approve and send them with your gift to Jerusalem. If it seems advisable for me to go also, they will accompany me. From some of the kind messages that I've received this week, it sounds like that there were some real imagination-filled, hope-fueled conversations that took place in this week's home groups and cell groups, provoked by last Sunday's talk on our resurrection bodies in God's renewed and restored kingdom. I, as you can imagine, seriously doubt that I will get the same steady stream of messages this week about this passage.

2:10 You never know. Because as you've just heard, we move from those hand-raising heights of, oh death, where is your sting? And I looked hard, but I couldn't find these words in any lyrics of any worship songs now about the collection. We seemingly shift today from the resurrection to money. We descend from the glorious to the seemingly ordinary. We tumble, if you like, from the transcendent to the mundane. But what if actually the reality is that we're not moving at all? What if Paul ordered, what if he arranged his writing so carefully and so thoughtfully so that this short focus on money and on giving immediately followed him filling their imaginations and ours with this glorious eternal kingdom future, gracious gift that is ours as a direct result of the sacrificial generosity of Jesus on the cross.

3:14 What if we're not meant to make this a hard cut from one chapter to the next? Remember, there were no chapters in Paul's original letter. But instead, we actually allow last week to flow into this week. to put on, if you like, all that filled our imaginations last week as lenses for what we look at this week. And I know that I talk a lot up here about lenses, and I have done over the years. And with this being Snooker World Championship time of year, I was reminded of an image I used back in our Philippians series back in lockdown in 2020. Some of you will remember that, this image from whenever we were all stuck at home, these Dennis Taylor glasses, these big glasses, these big lenses that allowed him to see everything he needed to see on the table in sharp focus. And I thought I'd roll this image out again for today.

4:15 Because when it comes to thinking about and making decisions about money, there are a number of different sets of lenses or glasses, if you like, that we put on, either consciously, but very, very often we are wearing them subconsciously. We don't realize that we are. Let me give you a couple of examples of possible pairs. And I don't say this to be in any sort of way accusatory. A lot of this is autobiographical, so bear with me. First of all, there are the who's doing better than me glasses, right? Hylian fashion, made even more common by the effects of social media. These glasses have an incredibly narrow field of vision.

4:55 Everything else remains a blur apart from anyone, and especially our peers who appear to have more than us. The better house, the better car, the better holidays, more financial freedom. And anyone who doesn't have as much as our level of income, even though if we look at that on a global scale, all of us are probably sitting in the top 10% in the world, so there's 90% people that we're not looking at, they might as well not exist. Those glasses simply do not see them. And surprisingly, these sorts of glasses, these lenses, well, they stay stubbornly in place even as we earn more and more. Just the people that we look at change. And they generally result, as many of us can talk of from experience, in feelings of discontentment and of envy. That's one pair.

5:50 Maybe some of us though have a pair of the I deserve all this glasses. Again, the field of vision is relatively small with a focus being on all of the sweat and tears and the challenges and the toil that the wearer has experienced to have what they have. Again, generally in comparison to other people who have had it really easy. And these glasses lead the wearer to say things like, at least internally to themselves, this is my money and I deserve it and all its benefits because it's all been down to me. That's a couple of examples but I'm sure there are many others too. If you're young, you might be wearing the, I just need to earn a little bit more and then glasses. Or if you're at the other end of the age spectrum, you might be wearing the, it's now my time to enjoy this glasses. All these different lenses through which we view our money, our finances through, which then impact, don't they?

6:52 Which direct, which control all the choices and decisions we make around it. And as I said, back four years ago in that Philippian series, Paul in so many of his letters is continually urging these early churches to put on their big glasses with these big lenses that don't simply have a very narrow field of vision, but that are big enough to see the present in the light of the past, God's big story, and in the light of the future of that story. And he's urging them to wear them permanently, not just when they're singing, oh death, where is your sting? It's easy to wear than them, but also in their relationships, in their work, and even when they're sitting down and doing their finances. And these big glasses, well, we could give them all manner of different names. We've mentioned a few of them already this morning in view of God's mercy. That could be one name for them, by the grace of God. Going back to chapter 15, by the grace of God, I am what I am.

7:58 that could be another. Since then, Corrie read this a moment ago, you have been raised with Christ, that could be another. And you could add a dozen more different names or labels to these lenses, these glasses, you get the idea. These big glasses filled with filled imaginations of God's mercy and grace in the past. God's mercy and grace in our present and God's sure and certain hope for the future that we've reveled in and imagined together in the last few weeks are to be the glasses that we're wearing every day for every decision, for every aspect of our daily lives in Christ, including our perspective on our money. We need to let last week shape everything and inspire everything we think about this week because ultimately our money is a matter of our eyes, our vision, and even more so of our hearts. So let's try to put those on as we consider what is incredibly practical teaching here from Paul on giving. This very short passage, let me be clear, is not by any means a full New Testament theology on the subject of money and giving, and nor is what Paul lays out here a list of rules or laws.

9:21 Let's be really careful here and make that clear from the outset. Under the new covenant in Christ, there are no laws around giving. We are free to make responsive choices. These are rather wise biblical principles that we're looking at, kingdom principles. From an apostle who has lived his whole life from his time of his conversion with these big glasses on and through whom God calls us to ask ourselves, are these principles a reality in my life? Really simple. And if not, how's he calling me to make changes to my own situation? Before we get into those principles though, let's just briefly understand the original context of what is going on here.

10:11 It's important we always see what's happening in the original setting. Paul is talking here about the collection for the Lord's people. Well, what was that? Well, it's hard to work it out from here exactly, but we can draw together lots of different clues from here, from 2 Corinthians 8 and 9, from Romans 15, from Acts 11, from Galatians 2, to ascertain that during this time, the Christian community in Jerusalem was facing severe hardship, probably due to a combination of factors, including famine and persecution. And that Paul is remembering his conversation with Peter and James and John at the Council of Jerusalem, that commitment he made to remember the poor. And he is now project managing this major undertaking to raise funds from the Gentile church across where he has planted all these different churches. And he sees this collective gift as being really crucial, both in the sense that the believers in Jerusalem desperately need support and help, but also in the sense that those in the Gentile churches desperately need to give. And we'll come back to that a little bit later.

11:28 He also sees this as deeply symbolic, demonstrating unity and solidarity between Gentile and Jewish believers where there has been tension and so on. That's the original context of what Paul is talking about here. So what about the principles then that he lays out? We're going to look at three and I'm just going to go through them one by one. The first is this. Paul tells this church in Corinth that when they give, their giving should be planned and it should be paramount. In other words, it should be of first importance. Remember one of the major issues, if you've been with us the whole series across the the last couple of years in 1 Corinthians, one of the issues that we've talked a lot about is that a number of people in this church are thinking that they're really, really spiritual.

12:19 They're on this sort of elevated spiritual plane in comparison to all these ordinary Christians. And you can imagine, can't you, probably, those sorts of people when it came to giving, that some of them might be waiting to be led by the Spirit, right? I'm waiting for the Spirit to lead me, to show me where I'm to sow, where he is truly in it. And we can be like that too, I think. Yes, I'll give, but only when and where I feel led to give. Only when I'm captured by a vision, only when this or that appeal actually appeals to me emotionally. Now, please hear me properly. I'm not ruling out at all responding to a particular appeal like we have done here in the past.

13:09 Think of Ukraine. Think of Stand By Me and Myanmar. Think of Hope 365 recently. But what Paul seems to be saying here is that that shouldn't be the way we arrange our core central giving. That should be out of an overflow of abundance. He seems to be saying true spirituality, believe it or not, actually involves having a plan. true spirituality involves planning work out what you're going to give he says to them on the first day of each week each Sunday now in that context what might that have meant for them well of course Sunday had become for this fledgling Christian church think these are all very young Christians only been about three or four years that this church has been in existence and for them this Sunday would have been the day they gathered together, the Lord's day, the day when the cross and the resurrection of Christ was remembered and it was celebrated, the day when the coming day of the Lord that we've been talking about was anticipated together.

14:13 So to plan and set aside what you were going to give on this day was, in a sense, them putting on these big glasses and saying, Father, in light of the past, in view of your grace by which I am what I am today, in light of the present of this very day I'm experiencing your gift of spiritual resurrection and then in light of the future my eternal resurrection future guaranteed by the resurrection of Christ in light of all of this with these big glasses on I respond or we respond in true spirituality with the setting aside of this sum of money. This is the principle we first give to you. Your kingdom is paramount. We seek it first. We invest in it first, in your people, in your purposes, ahead of anything else. It's this first fruits principle at play. We don't wait until, in their case, the end of the week or in our case, the end of the month to see what we have got left after whatever it is.

15:22 The golf membership or getting your nails done or any of those things. You can work out which ones are those exactly from my experience and which ones aren't. But those sorts of things, or the new tires we need to pass the MOT, whatever it is, we begin with you in this firstfruits way. Now, as we apply this to our own context, we do need to be careful. We need to be careful not to become too rigid or too legalistic with the detail of this principle, especially around what Paul talks about here in terms of the frequency, in terms of this being each week. He was probably suggesting weekly in line with how their wages were paid. Sort of all made sense that way. The reality for most of us is that isn't the case.

16:06 We get paid, most of us I would say, annual salaries, paid monthly, and we have very helpful systems of banking, like standing orders, which allow us to sit down and plan and pray and discuss and consider at the beginning of a year. And for some of us, that'll be the beginning of a tax year. some of us will be academic year, some of us will be the calendar year, whatever it is, to plan and to pray and to consider. And the principle is with those big glasses on, planned, thoughtful, prayerful giving, not reactive, not emotion-led in the moment. And giving that is eternal kingdom first, not last. It's forethought, not afterthought. It's first fruits, not leftovers. That's the first principle.

16:59 The second one, I love this one. The second one is this. Giving is a universal opportunity. Giving is a universal opportunity. It is open to all. Those of you here, maybe some of you do. It'll be more at second service. But some of you here, no doubt, will have student loans.

17:18 Baby boomers with grants and everything. You've no idea what these people have to go through. but you'll know that if you have a student loan, you only have to start repaying that student loan if your income reaches a certain threshold. I think at the moment, it's somewhere around 25,000 pounds per year. But what Paul is saying here is that Christian giving doesn't work according to that principle. Look at what he says. Each one of you should set aside a sum of money. Each one of you.

17:50 No exception. Giving isn't reserved for a certain level of income or a certain level of wealth. It's not reserved for full-time workers or for homeowners or for over 30s or for over 25s or even for over 18s. It is open to all who receive any sort of income from the billionaire tech mogul to the 17-year-old who does a Saturday shift in a coffee shop. It is. a universal opportunity. Now, I know what you're thinking. What is he going on about calling this an opportunity?

18:31 How is giving my money away counted as an opportunity? Well, it is, and for a couple of really significant reasons. First, because the reality is that you're not strictly giving it away. The reality is that you're actually, according to God's economy, investing it. you're investing it. Not in a way like those influencers that I see on Instagram and TikTok who are telling everybody how to retire before their voice is broken, not those people, but investing far more long-term than that in his eternal kingdom, in the work of his eternal kingdom, some of which we've talked about this morning. The New Testament, in particular Jesus in his parables, who, by the way, goes on about money far more than anyone else, is full of teaching along these lines. Why not take a little bit of time to look at some of those parables this week?

19:28 The parable of the talents in Matthew 25, or the corresponding 10 minas in Luke 19, or the shrewd manager that we looked at recently in Matthew, and also in Luke 16, or the simplicity of the concise parables of the hidden treasure or the pearl in Matthew 13, all running along the same lines of the same thing. We get to, we are given the opportunity to invest in eternity. Opportunity. We get to invest in eternal friendships and eternal relationships. Opportunity. We get to incomprehensibly multiply our earthly resource through choosing to invest in this gold-plated eternal fund. Opportunity. God has given us that opportunity.

20:22 And all of Jesus' teaching clearly tells us that to not take hold of that opportunity is the height of foolishness And it's the height of short-sightedness. That's one reason why I call it an opportunity. But the second connected one is this, and let me pose it as a question. Could it be, could it be that we actually need our giving far more than God needs our giving? Could it be that we actually need to give far more than God needs us to give? Coming out of the pandemic back in 2021 in our Stepping Forward Together series, again, if you're around, you might remember that. We talked a lot about this world that we live in being a sort of digital Babylon.

21:21 Maybe you remember that term. It came from a book that I was reading at the time, that through the constant presence of our phone screens, that this digital Babylon is shaping us, is discipling us, if you like, with all sorts of its values, including the central value of materialism. And we talked about the counter practices that we needed to adopt against this to be resilient disciples. We talked about the need to be immersed in scripture and immersed in prayer and immersed in worship. But could it be just as true that each one of us needs to be immersed in giving as this key counter practice to materialism getting hold of us in this digital Babylon? That as we give, we are reminded that all we have is God's. Not just a portion, but all 100% that we're not owners, but we are stewards. We are managers.

22:24 That's what all of Jesus' teaching says. We're stewards of what he has given us. Could it be that as we give, we are shaped, we are developing this muscle memory that every thoughtful, planned, careful, sacrificial choice to give bends us just a little bit, just a tiny degree away from reflecting and being caught up in all of Digital Babylon's values and towards reflecting and being caught up in the generosity of Jesus who, though he was rich, for our sake became poor so that we through his poverty might become rich. to paraphrase Paul in a second letter to the Corinthians. And in the same chapter is that Paul actually talks about giving in this way. He calls it a grace. Giving is a grace.

23:29 Giving is an opportunity to grow in Christ-likeness and loosen materialism's grip on us. It's a counter practice in that direction. It's a universal opportunity. It is open to all. And the earlier you start, and let me be really real about this, the earlier you start, the better. Because it does not get any easier as you get older. And the earlier you start, the more money will be less of a snare that wraps you up on its web and more of a blessing to you as you get to use it to bless others.

24:14 you learn that young you learn a very important lesson and that leads us on to the third principle which is really Paul's answer to the very practical question well okay got all of that so how much should I give how much should I give in my circumstances to fully and truly invest in to truly and fully lay up treasures in that kingdom where I'm gonna spend eternity in my resurrection body? How much should I give to fully and truly avail of this opportunity of grace so that my giving becomes part of the Holy Spirit's work in growing me in Christlikeness? How much? Give me a figure, give me a number. Well, Paul doesn't do that. Notice he doesn't command here a specific amount, nor, interestingly, does he command a specific percentage. Paul offers not an old covenant law, but a new covenant principle. It says here in the NIV that we read, in keeping with your income.

25:29 And that's translating Greek that is really Paul saying, as the Lord prospers you. As the Lord prospers you. How much we are to give is different for everyone. According to how the Lord prospers us and prospers us in the present. According to the salaries, the 2024 salaries, not the 2004 salaries. According to the pay rises and the bonuses and the stocks and shares dividends and the inheritances and so on. But also according to, on the other hand, the pay cuts or the sudden redundancies or the serious illnesses or any other life events that just take the financial feet out from under us. According to all of that, that all has to play into it.

26:28 And what Paul seems to be getting at here is that for each person or for each couple, if you're married and your resources are all together, of course, there's a sort of giving sweet spot, if you like. And that sweet spot, according to how the Lord has prospered you, is going to be somewhere in that gap between giving in a way that hurts, that is sacrificial, it hurts, but you can still do it with a smile. Paul talks about a cheerful giver in 2 Corinthians. So in a way that hurts, but you can do with a smile, but not giving in a way that financially cripples. We're not called to do that. And C.S. Lewis captures that in mere Christianity when he says this.

27:21 If our expenditure on comforts, luxuries, Amusements, he's not talking about going on roller coasters. You need to interpret the old language here. Things that we enjoy, not necessities, in other words. If our expenditure in comforts, luxuries, amusements is up to the standard common among those with the same income as our own, we are probably giving away too little. If our charities, if our giving does not at all pinch or hamper us, I should say they are too small. There ought to be things we should like to do and cannot do because our charitable expenditure are giving away of what God has given us. Excludes them.

28:14 I think that's very helpful. Now, that sweet spot then. Many people might say that, well, the old covenant tithe of 10% is that sweet spot. And for some of us, that absolutely may be the case, but we do need to be really careful about that because Paul does not mention it at all. And if he was thinking tithe, somebody who knew the Old Testament as well as him, if he was thinking tithe, it's very, very strange that he doesn't mention it here or anywhere else. and the reality is this that we are as I've said already we are given the freedom as followers of Jesus to make our own thoughtful and prayerful big glasses decisions before God and I also think the reality is this that for some 10% will not simply hurt. It will cripple. Not in terms of luxuries, but in terms of necessities of life.

29:28 And so to make people in that situation feel obligated to give to that level is in a way a false and cruel legalism. But it's also the reality that for many of us, 10% actually will not be enough because 10% doesn't really hurt. 10% doesn't pinch, it doesn't hamper, it doesn't get in the way, it isn't truly sacrificial, it is too easy and it is not close to fully availing of the opportunity that God has given us to give. That sweet spot, according to how the Lord has prospered some of us, will be way beyond ticking a 10% box. And we've got to understand that God has no interest whatsoever in legalistic box tickers either way. God's not concerned with how much we give, but how much what we give costs us. because it's how much it costs us that will change us.

30:46 And that's what God is in the business of doing. He's in the business of changing us. He's in the business of transforming us. And so we need to think along those lines and be careful that we're not just ticking some box of law that doesn't actually exist for believers in Christ. So, three, not laws, not laws. Let me say that very clear. not rules, three principles to prayerfully consider and reflect on before God this morning. And as we finish now, let me be very clear, okay?

31:19 We have no standing order forms at the back for you today, right? That's not what this is about. Yes, there may be times, but that's not what today is about. I should also make it clear that as I stand up and talk to you about this, I have no clue. I have no knowledge and I have no access this to what anybody in Glen Abbey gives to Glen Abbey. Let me be very clear on that too. That's not what this is about either. Today, as we meet this passage, and just as we're going through things and it talks about giving, we just meet it and we look at it.

31:56 And we ask God to speak into our hearts. That's what it's about this morning. This is about our hearts. This is about our response. to the immeasurable generosity of Christ. This is about the telos, the purpose, the goal of our lives. Where they are aimed. Are they aimed towards resurrection and eternal life?

32:22 Or would our money suggest that they are aimed at let us eat and drink for tomorrow we die? This is about the glasses that we wear, that we put on, We see our whole lives, including our money through. So firstly then, is our giving planned and paramount? And what does our response say about our vision and our hearts right now? Secondly, are we embracing giving? Each one of us, are we embracing giving as an exciting spiritual growth, sanctifying investment opportunity, whether we are 17 or 77 or anywhere in between? Again, what does our response illustrate about our eyes and our hearts? And thirdly, are we truly giving according to how the Lord is prospering us?

33:17 Are we regularly reviewing everything as it changes? That's when we have to do that every Sunday. It might be a monthly thing. It might be an annual thing even. It might be as those changes actually happen to ensure that we are giving in a way that is truly costly, but not in a way that is irresponsible. Again, what does the reality of our current situation say about our eyes and about our hearts? And how might God, by his Spirit, be prompting us in our freedom, in our liberty, to make changes where we are according to these principles.

34:04 Let me finish with that verse that I mentioned a little moment ago. For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor so that you through his poverty might become rich. We've got to understand how rich we already are. Let's pray together as the band come back up. Father, we know that our attitude, our perspective on our money, our possessions, our financial security, well, that's often one of the most impenetrable places for the truth of your grace and your hope to reach. by your spirit reveal right now the condition of our hearts to us and go about your work of freeing us

35:09 show us where we need to take a path of liberty and freedom from money's vice-like grip on us. Show us how that path is a path to freedom through giving, through generosity, reflecting and responding to the generosity that has been shown to us by your Spirit as we pray each week. Speak to us now in our own personal situations and circumstances. In Jesus' name. Amen. Amen.